When your friend is down, you may say he is feeling a little blue. When you receive an A on a test, you may say your classmate is green with envy.We associate colors with emotions and character traits.Though nobody can define their character with just a few adjectives, how closely do their favorite colors match their personalities, and what do these colors truly mean? While interviewing students about a correlation between their favorite colors and their personalities, I found that the colors they are drawn to reflect the type of person they are.
RED
Judy Scott- Kemmis, author of the website empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com, said red is “energizing. It excites the emotions and motivates us to take action.” Red can mean anger and aggression while, on the other hand, it can also mean lust and love.Omead Pooladzandi (Sr.) said he liked red because “it has so many different analytical meanings. It makes it more interesting than the other colors.” He thought red did match his personality, as he said, “I like to think of myself as an interesting and energetic person.”
BLUE
A blogger on empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com said, blue is a color that “seeks peace and tranquility above everything else, promoting both physical and mental relaxation.” The blue ocean as well as the blue sky are known to have calming effects. When I asked Brandon Tabor (Sr.) if the color blue matches his personality he said, “I don’t know exactly. I haven’t really thought about it. It isn’t something I, or most people, consciously think about. It is difficult to define yourself with a distinct color.”
YELLOW
“The color psychology of yellow is uplifting and illuminating, offering hope, happiness, cheerfulness and fun,” said a blogger on empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com. Ellen Uyeda (Sr.) felt that the color also matched her personality since she likes to “have an optimistic view on life. It thinks it’s better just to be happy.” Students who like yellow may have naturally sunny personalities. I think that a key reason why students are drawn to the color is because they strive to embrace a more positive outlook on life.
PURPLE
Purple is a powerful color, so someone who is drawn towards it is most likely drawn towards luxury as well as secrecy. When I asked her if she thought it matched her personality, McKenna Fitzgerald (Sr.) said, “Because I am kind of a reserved person, I don’t seek out attention, and, I guess, my keeping things to myself makes me a bit of mystery.” Purple clearly has introspective and thoughtful qualities that make it unique and easy to relate to as shy yet deep person. In the past, purple also represented royalty.
GREEN
When people think of green, they think of the earth or even luck. Green is associated with nature for obvious reasons, but I think we can take this connection further and associate green with serenity. A blogger on psychology.about.com said green “is a cool color that symbolizes nature and the natural world.” When I asked Jennifer Lee (Sr.) if she thought her favorite color green matched her personality, she said, “I am not calm all the time, so no, but maybe that’s why I like it so much. I strive to be a calmer person.”
By: Emily Miyaoka
Staff Writer
